Karnataka poll date leak: AAP says EC dancing to BJP tunes, tells opposition parties to raise voice

Upping its attack on the EC days after the Delhi High Court quashed the poll commission’s decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs, party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said: “Today, what has happened has crossed all limits. Even before the Election Commission could announce the dates of the (Karnataka) election, the BJP announces them. The EC has become the BJP’s party office. The EC is a puppet dancing on the directions of the BJP.”

He said the AAP has been raising various allegations against the EC — from faulty EVMs to the issue of dates being announced in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to favour the BJP — and the poll date leak was the final sign for opposition parties to join forces with the AAP against the poll commission.

“Other parties of India need to realise that unless they raise their voice, the 2019 general elections or the state assembly elections will not be free and fair. It is clear that what the BJP will do, the EC will ensure,” he said.
According to party sources, Singh’s comments should be understood in the context of a possible third front. While the talk of an opposition coalition ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls has long been discussed, AAP has often found itself outside such talks.

“Increasingly, there is a sense of disappointment with the Congress among state parties. Whether its Trinamool or any other. Our problem was always with the Congress since in both, Delhi and Punjab, we are in direct opposition to them. These (Singh’s) comments need to be understood in the context of the possibility of a third front,” a senior party leader said.